• This is the refusal to obey the demands or commands of a government without using violence to force for a change in laws or policies.
• Speaking at Kamukunji grounds on Tuesday, Raila said this will be aimed at causing the revocation of the Finance Act, signed on Wednesday by President William Ruto.
Image: ENOS TECHE
Opposition chief Raila Odinga has called upon Kenyans to embrace civil disobedience to deny the Kenya Kwanza regime taxes after the Finance Bill 2023, was signed into law.
Speaking at Kamukunji grounds on Tuesday, Raila said this will be aimed at causing the revocation of the Finance Act, signed on Monday by President William Ruto.
"There is no other option left. We must fight. We are going to fight until the Finance Act is repealed. We will adopt a series of acts of civil disobedience to force this regime to recognise that we, the people are supreme," he said.
Among the disobedience acts proposed for adoption is carpooling. Raila said this will ensure that Kenyans reduce their fuel consumption, minimising taxes collected on fuel after the VAT on fuel products was raised to 16 per cent from 8, in the new Finance Act.
Raila also urged Kenyans to walk instead of driving and cut down on non-essential travel.
"Here, therefore, are my requests to you people of Kenya, let us embrace tax boycott, let us deny the fuel tax by limiting the consumption of petrol and diesel," he said.
He further appealed to matatu owners to observe the same by retaining the current fare and doubling the number of passengers while observing safety measures.
The former Prime Minister called upon the traffic police officers to be lenient to matatus that carry excess passengers.
"Our police officers support our call by allowing matatus to carry above capacity at current cost so that Kenyans can commute," he said.
He also requested employers to allow their workers time to walk to work.
Further, Raila appealed to businesses to disable or avoid using Electronic Tax Registers, make nil returns on VAT and instead give discounts to customers.
"This way, we shall recover the VAT Ruto is taking illegally through fuel," he said.
Raila called upon employers to ignore deductions of employees' salaries.
He also requested artists to record and perform songs that reflect on the challenges that Kenyans are going through to push the government to act and lower the cost of living and discard the new Finance Act.
"Let our songs and music be a source of pain to the traitors. Let our music carry our disappointments and support the fight against Ruto and his contempt for us until Ruto learns to respect the people," Raila said.
To the online community, the ODM leader asked them to use their platform and fame to get the message of the boycott to all Kenyans.
He reiterated his call to Kenyans, noting that the public is sovereign.
"We are asserting our sovereignty. Civil disobedience begins with personal actions. We begin today, and we will continue progressively, discreetly and publicly, culminating in the official start of massive countrywide," Raila said.